Lydia Loveless

The AV Club called Real "an adventurous, brutal honest sucker punch." While The Boston Globe said, "Loveless continues to manifest a remarkable combination of bruised vulnerability and desperate longing, alongside a tough, self-deprecating resilience, but there’s more of the former and less of the latter this time. She’s still preoccupied with the downsides of love: longing for something you don’t (or can’t) have, the inevitable dissolution of whatever you manage to find (and the difficulty of finding it in the first place), and the emotional pitfalls of navigating it." Rolling Stone liked the shift in genre towards a more pop sound.

Loveless donated her vocal talent to the end credits song from the film, A Dog Named Gucci, in the song "One Voice," which also features the talents of Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs, Neko Case, Brian May and Kathryn Calder. It was produced by Dean Falcone, who also wrote the film's score. One Voice was released on Record Store Day, April 16, 2016, with profits from the sale of the single going to benefit animal charities.

In August 2016, Bloodshot Records released her third studio album, Real. Her first ever music video, for the album's first single "Longer" received its world premiere on Rolling Stone magazine in July 2016. The video was directed by filmmaker Gorman Bechard, who directed the documentary on Loveless. On August 19, a second Bechard-directed music video was released this time for the song "Clumps." The next morning Loveless and her band made their American TV network debut, performing three songs on CBS Saturday Morning. A third video for the song "European," also directed by Bechard, debuted in November 2016.

Loveless was the subject of a documentary called Who is Lydia Loveless? in which filmmaker Gorman Bechard (Color Me Obsessed, Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart) documents the making of Loveless' next record, as well as following her on the road, and looking into what life is like for a band at her level in the music industry. "I also wanted to look at stuff we normally don’t see a lot of. What are the finances for a band like this? Where does the money go? Who gets the money? Is Spotify good? Is Spotify bad? How does piracy affect you? What about the fans? I really wanted to go into all of that for a band that can still sell out 200-250 seat venues and bars but is still all travelling in an old Ford van. A good night is when they have a couple of hotel rooms. No one is rolling in the dough so to speak. So what is it at that point when you have amazing critical success and acclaim but you’re not there yet?" In October 2015, Bechard and his crew filmed a live Lydia Loveless concert at Skully's in her hometown of Columbus for the documentary. The film has its World Premiere on April 7, 2016 at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival.

In April 2015, Loveless was part of a Record Store Day release with label-mate, Cory Branan. The two artists cover two Prince songs: Loveless doing I Would Die 4 U and Branan doing Under The Cherry Moon. The 7" limited edition releases will be pressed onto purple vinyl.

Rolling Stone cited Loveless as one of its "10 New Artists You Need to Know: January 2014."

In February 2014, Loveless released her third full-length record, Somewhere Else, on Bloodshot Records, which has a dark, "poppy" vibe. Stereogum said Loveless is using her "unmistakable voice as a songwriter, and she's only getting better at using it to blur the line between running her mouth and pouring out her heart." Loveless was listed as one of "5 Best New Artist for January 14" by SPIN magazine. The record includes "Head", a single Loveless wrote with her guitar player, Todd May, a fellow songwriter. The album had an overwhelmingly good reception and entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart (new entries to Billboard charts, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan) the first week of its release at position number 7.

In April 2014, Loveless released the Mile High/Blind 7" record for Record Store Day. The record had a non-album cut titled "Mile High" on the A side and a cover of Kesha's "Blind" on the B side. It was a limited edition release on lime green vinyl. The tracks were released in digital album format May 27, 2014.

In the Spring of 2013, Loveless did an extensive Canadian tour supporting the Supersuckers. Loveless and her band also toured Scandinavia and Spain during the Fall of 2013.

In 2013, Loveless released Boy Crazy, an EP. Mark Deming of AllMusic praised the release, asserting that the album "is further proof that Loveless is a major talent, and if her next album is as good as this, she may run the risk of becoming a very big star". One of the songs, "Lover's Spat," is about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

In 2012, signed with Bloodshot and determined to make a more raw and edgier album, she released Indestructible Machine with songs that feature themes of frustration with her hometown, drinking, depression, and a humorous song about being stalked by Steve Earle. Loveless recorded the album with many live takes and a minimum of overdubs at Grove City, Ohio’s Sonic Lounge recording studio with engineer Joe Viers. SPIN characterized the record as standing out "for its utter lack of bullshit," with "roaring vocals, in her narrators' lived-in-bars recklessness, and in her overall inability to mince words."

At a show in Cincinnati where she opened for his band, Loveless met producer David Rhodes Brown (500 Miles to Memphis) who went on to produce her first album, 2010's The Only Man. Loveless was not happy with the slick production of the album. Loveless made the record when she was 15 years old. Loveless clarified that she likes the songs she wrote, but the drawn-out process (over three years) to get the album released influenced her feelings about the project.

Columbus attorney Steve McGann became her manager. Loveless and her band drove 20 hours to Austin, Texas, and ended up playing for Bloodshot owners Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw at the 2010 South by Southwest music festival.

In 2004, Loveless, her father, and her sisters made up part of a four-member new wave pop band called Carson Drew, named after the father in the Nancy Drew books. Loveless played bass. The band broke up in 2007.

Lydia Loveless (born September 4, 1990; as Lydia Ankrom) is an American alternative country singer-songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. Her music combines pop music, classic country, honky tonk, and punk rock.